Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Applications for Deemed Public Health Service Employment With Liability Protections Under the Federal Tort Claims Act for Health Centers, Deemed Health Center Volunteers, and Free Clinic Sponsored Individuals, 22163-22165 [2024-06687]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 62 / Friday, March 29, 2024 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services
Administration
Agency Information Collection
Activities: Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Public Comment
Request; Applications for Deemed
Public Health Service Employment
With Liability Protections Under the
Federal Tort Claims Act for Health
Centers, Deemed Health Center
Volunteers, and Free Clinic Sponsored
Individuals
Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA), Department of
Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
HRSA submitted an Information
Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and approval. Comments
submitted during the first public review
of this ICR will be provided to OMB.
OMB will accept further comments from
the public during the review and
approval period. OMB may act on
HRSA’s ICR only after the 30-day
comment period for this notice has
closed.
SUMMARY:
Comments on this ICR should be
received no later than April 29, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting
‘‘Currently under Review—Open for
Public Comments’’ or by using the
search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request a copy of the clearance requests
submitted to OMB for review, email
Joella Roland, the HRSA Information
Collection Clearance Officer, at
paperwork@hrsa.gov or call (301) 443–
3983.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Information Collection Request Title:
Applications for Deemed Public Health
Service (PHS) Employment with
Liability Protections Under the Federal
Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for Health
Centers, Deemed Health Center
Volunteers, and Free Clinic Sponsored
Individuals OMB No. 0915–xxxx–New.
Abstract: Section 224(g)–(n) of the
PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 233(g)–(n)) states
that entities receiving funds under
section 330 of the PHS Act and
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DATES:
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specified individuals of that entity may
be deemed to be PHS employees for the
purpose of eligibility for liability
protections, including FTCA coverage,
for the performance of medical, surgical,
dental, and related functions within the
scope of deemed employment upon
approval of an application for deemed
employment. The Health Center
Program and Health Center FTCA
Program are administered by HRSA.
Health centers submit deeming
applications annually to HRSA in the
prescribed form and manner in order to
obtain deemed PHS employee status,
with the associated eligibility for FTCA
coverage. Such applications must be
approved by HRSA in a Notice of
Deeming Action. Deemed health centers
must resubmit applications annually
meeting all deeming requirements in
order to maintain deemed status.
Volunteer Health Professionals (VHPs)
Section 224(q) of the PHS Act (42
U.S.C. 233(q)), extends eligibility for
deemed PHS employee status to VHPs
sponsored by deemed health centers
upon approval of an individual deeming
sponsorship application for deemed
PHS employment. The Health Center
VHP FTCA Program is administered by
HRSA. In order to maintain deemed
status for VHPs, deemed health centers
must submit to HRSA an annual
deeming sponsorship application on
behalf of individually named VHPs. For
liability protections to apply, such
applications must be approved by HRSA
in a Notice of Deeming Action
applicable to the individual VHP,
which, absent other intervening facts,
generally is applicable to covered
activities within the scope of such
deemed PHS employment for a calendar
year.
Free Clinics
Section 224(o) of the PHS Act (42
U.S.C. 233(o)) extends eligibility for
deemed PHS employee status to free
clinic health professionals, including
employees, officers, board members,
contractors, and volunteer health
professionals, at qualifying free clinics.
The Free Clinics FTCA Program is
administered by HRSA. Free clinics
must submit deeming sponsorship
applications to HRSA in the specified
form and manner on behalf of named
individuals for HRSA’s review and
approval. In order to continue to
participate in the Free Clinics FTCA
Program and maintain deemed status for
individuals, free clinics must submit to
HRSA an annual deeming sponsorship
application on behalf of named
individuals. For liability protections to
apply, such applications must be
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22163
approved by HRSA in a Notice of
Deeming Action applicable to the
sponsored individual, which, absent
other intervening facts, generally is
applicable to covered activities within
the scope of such deemed PHS
employment for a calendar year.
Approvals result in a ‘‘deeming
determination’’ that includes associated
FTCA coverage for these individuals.
HRSA is proposing to combine the
three existing ICRs for these programs
into a single ICR consisting of the three
application forms. The three existing
ICRs are: (1) Application for Health
Center Program Recipients for Deemed
PHS Employment with Liability
Protections Under the FTCA (OMB No.
0906–0035), (2) Application for Deemed
Health Center Program Award
Recipients to Sponsor VHPs for Deemed
PHS Employment (OMB No. 0906–
0032), and (3) FTCA Program Deeming
Sponsorship Applications for Free
Clinics (OMB No. 0915–0293). HRSA
recognizes that the content of these
three FTCA applications differs but is
proposing to combine these three
separate ICRs in order to increase
efficiencies, decrease burden on
stakeholders, and allow commentors to
more easily provide feedback where
applicable to commonalities that may
impact all three ICRs. Pursuant to
section 224(g)–(o), and (q) of the PHS
Act (42 U.S.C. 233(g)–(o) and (q)), as
amended, all three collections are done
for the purpose of collecting information
from certain health centers that receive
grant funding under section 330 of the
PHS Act and free clinics to determine
eligibility for liability protections,
including FTCA coverage. Applications
for these programs must be submitted
through HRSA’s web-based application
system, the Electronic Handbooks.
These electronic application forms
decrease the time and effort required to
complete the older, paper-based OMB
approved FTCA application forms. In
order to make the terminology more
consistent, the names of the
applications are now as follows: (1)
Application for Health Center Program
Recipients for Deemed PHS
Employment with Liability Protections
Under the FTCA, (2) Application for
Deemed Health Center Program
Recipients to Sponsor VHPs for Deemed
PHS Employment with Liability
Protections Under the FTCA, and (3)
Application for Free Clinics to Sponsor
Individuals for Deemed PHS
Employment with Liability Protections
Under the FTCA. In this single ICR,
HRSA is proposing to update the
content of the applications forms, which
OMB has previously approved as three
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 62 / Friday, March 29, 2024 / Notices
individual ICRs. These revisions are
described below.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Proposed Revisions
1. Application for Health Center
Program Recipients for Deemed PHS
Employment With Liability Protections
Under the FTCA
HRSA is proposing several changes to
the content of the Application for
Health Center Program Recipients for
Deemed PHS Employment with
Liability Protections Under the FTCA, to
be used for health center deeming
applications for calendar year (CY) 2024
and thereafter, to improve question
clarity and clarify required
documentation. The application
includes: Contact Information, Section
1: Review of Risk Management Systems;
Section 2: Quality Improvement/Quality
Assurance (QI/QA); Section 3:
Credentialing and Privileging; Section 4:
Claims Management; and Section 5:
Additional Information, Certification,
and Signatures. In addition to minor
grammatical changes made for clarity,
the application includes the following
proposed changes:
• A disclaimer regarding training for
health center staff was added to the
beginning of the Review of Risk
Management Systems, QI/QA,
Credentialing and Privileging, and
Claims Management sections.
Review of Risk Management Systems:
• Questions related to required FTCA
trainings for Obstetrics, Infection
Control, the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act, and other
specific areas of risk were separated into
four questions, and detailed guidance
for Obstetrics training was added for
clarity.
• To facilitate the verification of
compliance with training requirements,
applicants will be required to enter their
training tracking information in a Word
or PDF document that will be part of the
information collection tool.
• To enhance clarity and ensure
accurate uploading of information, the
quarterly assessments have been
divided into four separate questions.
This change aims to outline the required
elements and information necessary for
each risk assessment.
Credentialing and Privileging:
• The credentialing and privileging
section was revised to include
clarification regarding policy and
procedure requirements for temporary
privileging.
• A new attestation question was
added to clearly outline the
requirements of Chapter 5 of the Health
Center Compliance Manual, Clinical
Staffing regarding Credentialing and
Privileging of health care practitioners.
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• A new question was added to
ensure health centers ensure
credentialing and privileging for all
provider types, including Licensed
Independent Practitioners, Other
Licensed or Certified Practitioners, and
Other Clinical Staff.
Claims Management:
A new claims management question
was added to ensure documents relating
to potential tort claims are in the correct
format when transmitted to the
Department of Health and Human
Services, Office of the General Counsel’s
General Law Division.
2. Application for Deemed Health
Center Program Recipients To Sponsor
VHPs for Deemed PHS Employment
With Liability Protections Under the
FTCA
HRSA is proposing several changes to
the content of the Application for
Deemed Health Center Program
Recipients to Sponsor VHPs for Deemed
PHS Employment with Liability
Protections Under the FTCA, to be used
for deeming sponsorship applications
for CY 2024 and thereafter, to improve
question clarity, clarify required
documentation, and support HRSA’s
analysis and understanding of program
impact. The application includes the
following sections: Acknowledgments of
Deemed Status Requirements,
Acknowledgment of Required
Performance Conditions, and
Information on the Volunteers
Sponsored for Deeming. Specifically,
the application includes the following
proposed changes:
• Volunteers Sponsored for Deeming:
Since the publication of the 60-day
notice, HRSA has decided to no longer
add a new question to the VHP
application tool related to performing
activities during declared emergencies.
Instead, HRSA is adopting a new
streamlined VHP Emergency Deeming
Sponsorship Application, that may be
used by certain health centers (as
identified by HRSA) that are affected by
a declared emergency or other
emergency, to seek expedited deemed
status for sponsored VHPs for a limited
time period to support short-term
staffing needs based on the impact of
the identified emergencies. The purpose
of this streamlined deeming
sponsorship application is to facilitate
rapid onboarding of VHPs for health
centers affected by a declared
emergency or other emergency situation.
This application will be an abbreviated
version of the normal VHP application
and will require less attachments and
uses primarily attestation statements.
Health centers affected by a declared
emergency or other emergency situation
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
requesting FTCA coverage on behalf of
a subrecipient’s VHPs must submit a
VHP Emergency Deeming Sponsorship
Application on behalf of each
individually named volunteer health
practitioner on the subrecipient’s behalf.
This tool will be made available in the
Electronic Handbooks at HRSA’s
discretion.
• Credentialing and Privileging:
Language has been added to ensure
grantees understand the 2-year
requirement for credentialing and
privileging.
3. Application for Free Clinics To
Sponsor Individuals for Deemed PHS
Employment With Liability Protections
Under the FTCA
HRSA is proposing several changes to
the content of the Applications for Free
Clinics to Sponsor Individuals for
Deemed PHS Employment with
Liability Protections Under the FTCA, to
be used for deeming sponsorship
applications for CY 2024 and thereafter,
to improve question clarity and clarify
required documentation. Specifically,
the application includes the following
proposed changes:
• In Section III, ‘‘Sponsoring Free
Clinic Eligibility,’’ a note was added to
clarify the non-profit status
documentation requirements for free
clinics; and
• In Section VII, ‘‘Patient Visit Data,’’
clarifying language was added to ensure
that free clinics provide precise and
accurate data.
A 60-day notice published in the
Federal Register on December 13, 2023,
88 FR 86346, received no public
comments.
Need and Proposed Use of the
Information: Deeming applications must
address certain specified criteria
required by law to be approved, and
FTCA application forms are critical to
HRSA’s deeming determination process.
The application submissions provide
HRSA with the information essential to
evaluate the application and make a
deeming determination. Moreover, the
application information is also used to
determine whether a site visit is
appropriate to assess issues relating to
quality of care and to determine
technical assistance needs.
Likely Respondents: Respondents
include Health Center Program funding
recipients seeking deemed PHS
employee status for purposes of
eligibility for liability protections,
including FTCA coverage; Health Center
Program funding recipients that have
been deemed as PHS employees and
that seek to sponsor VHPs for deemed
PHS employee status for purposes of
eligibility for liability protections,
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 62 / Friday, March 29, 2024 / Notices
including FTCA coverage; and free
clinics that seek to sponsor individuals
for deemed PHS employee status for
purposes of eligibility for liability
protections, including FTCA coverage.
Burden Statement: Burden in this
context means the time expended by
persons to generate, maintain, retain,
disclose, or provide the information
requested. This includes the time
needed to review instructions; to
develop, acquire, install, and utilize
technology and systems for the purpose
of collecting, validating and verifying
information, processing and
maintaining information, and disclosing
and providing information; to train
personnel and to be able to respond to
Number of
respondents
Form name
Application for Health Center Program Recipients for
Deemed PHS Employment with Liability Protections
Under the FTCA ...............................................................
Application for Deemed Health Center Program Recipients
to Sponsor Volunteer Health Professionals for Deemed
PHS Employment with Liability Protections Under the
FTCA ................................................................................
Volunteer Health Professionals Emergency Deeming
Sponsorship Application ...................................................
Application for Free Clinics to Sponsor Individuals for
Deemed PHS Employment with Liability Protections
Under the FTCA ...............................................................
Total ..............................................................................
Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
Number of
responses per
respondent
1,160
2.5
2,900
1,156
3
3,468
2.0
6,936
60
1
60
1.0
60
374
3
1,122
2.0
2,244
2,750
........................
5,810
........................
12,140
National Institutes of Health
National Cancer Institute; Notice of
Closed Meeting
Indian Health Service
Change in Publication Policy of
Notices of Funding Opportunity
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Per the current policy of the
Department of Health and Human
Services, the Indian Health Service
(IHS) will begin using Grants.gov as the
primary publication outlet for IHS
Notices of Funding Opportunity
(NOFO), as of February 1, 2024. Links
to the announcement in Grants.gov and
to the NOFO will be posted to the IHS
Division of Grants Management website,
at https://www.ihs.gov/dgm/funding/.
Any questions regarding this change
should be directed to the Division of
Grants Management by email to DGM@
ihs.gov.
Roselyn Tso,
Director, Indian Health Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–06679 Filed 3–28–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4166–14–P
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Pursuant to section 1009 of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, as
amended, notice is hereby given of the
following meeting.
The meetings will be closed to the
public in accordance with the
provisions set forth in sections
552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C.,
as amended. The purpose of this
meeting is to evaluate requests for
preclinical development resources for
potential new therapeutics for the
treatment of cancer. The outcome of the
evaluation will provide information to
internal NCI committees that will
decide whether NCI should support
requests and make available contract
resources for development of the
potential therapeutic to improve the
treatment of various forms of cancer.
The research proposals and the
discussions could disclose confidential
trade secrets or commercial property
such as patentable material, and
personal information concerning
individuals associated with the
proposed research projects, the
disclosure of which would constitute a
clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy.
PO 00000
Frm 00050
Total burden
hours
1
[FR Doc. 2024–06687 Filed 3–28–24; 8:45 am]
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Average
burden per
response
(in hours)
Total
responses
1,160
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
BILLING CODE 4165–15–P
a collection of information; to search
data sources; to complete and review
the collection of information; and to
transmit or otherwise disclose the
information. The total annual burden
hours estimated for this ICR are
summarized in the table below.
Total Estimated Annualized Burden
Hours:
Fmt 4703
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Name of Committee: National Cancer
Institute Special Emphasis Panel; FEB2024
Cycle 46 NExT SEP Committee Meeting.
Date: May 7, 2024.
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Agenda: To evaluate the NCI Experimental
Therapeutics Program Portfolio.
Place: National Institutes of Health, 9000
Rockville Pike, Building 31, Room 3A44,
Bethesda, Maryland 20892 (Virtual Meeting).
Contact Persons: Barbara Mroczkowski,
Ph.D., Executive Secretary, Discovery
Experimental Therapeutics Program,
National Cancer Institute, NIH, 31 Center
Drive, Room 3A44, Bethesda, Maryland
20817, 301–496–4291, mroczkoskib@
mail.nih.gov.
Toby Hecht, Ph.D., Executive Secretary,
Development Experimental Therapeutics
Program, National Cancer Institute, NIH,
9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 3W110,
Rockville, Maryland 20850, 240–276–5683,
toby.hecht2@nih.gov.
(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance
Program Nos. 93.392, Cancer Construction;
93.393, Cancer Cause and Prevention
Research; 93.394, Cancer Detection and
Diagnosis Research; 93.395, Cancer
Treatment Research; 93.396, Cancer Biology
Research; 93.397, Cancer Centers Support;
93.398, Cancer Research Manpower; 93.399,
Cancer Control, National Institutes of Health,
HHS)
Dated: March 26, 2024.
Melanie J. Pantoja,
Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory
Committee Policy.
[FR Doc. 2024–06744 Filed 3–28–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140–01–P
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22163-22165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06687]
[[Page 22163]]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Applications for Deemed
Public Health Service Employment With Liability Protections Under the
Federal Tort Claims Act for Health Centers, Deemed Health Center
Volunteers, and Free Clinic Sponsored Individuals
AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department
of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA
submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted
during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB
will accept further comments from the public during the review and
approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30-day
comment period for this notice has closed.
DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than April 29,
2024.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under Review--Open for
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the clearance
requests submitted to OMB for review, email Joella Roland, the HRSA
Information Collection Clearance Officer, at [email protected] or call
(301) 443-3983.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Information Collection Request Title: Applications for Deemed
Public Health Service (PHS) Employment with Liability Protections Under
the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for Health Centers, Deemed Health
Center Volunteers, and Free Clinic Sponsored Individuals OMB No. 0915-
xxxx-New.
Abstract: Section 224(g)-(n) of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 233(g)-(n))
states that entities receiving funds under section 330 of the PHS Act
and specified individuals of that entity may be deemed to be PHS
employees for the purpose of eligibility for liability protections,
including FTCA coverage, for the performance of medical, surgical,
dental, and related functions within the scope of deemed employment
upon approval of an application for deemed employment. The Health
Center Program and Health Center FTCA Program are administered by HRSA.
Health centers submit deeming applications annually to HRSA in the
prescribed form and manner in order to obtain deemed PHS employee
status, with the associated eligibility for FTCA coverage. Such
applications must be approved by HRSA in a Notice of Deeming Action.
Deemed health centers must resubmit applications annually meeting all
deeming requirements in order to maintain deemed status.
Volunteer Health Professionals (VHPs)
Section 224(q) of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 233(q)), extends
eligibility for deemed PHS employee status to VHPs sponsored by deemed
health centers upon approval of an individual deeming sponsorship
application for deemed PHS employment. The Health Center VHP FTCA
Program is administered by HRSA. In order to maintain deemed status for
VHPs, deemed health centers must submit to HRSA an annual deeming
sponsorship application on behalf of individually named VHPs. For
liability protections to apply, such applications must be approved by
HRSA in a Notice of Deeming Action applicable to the individual VHP,
which, absent other intervening facts, generally is applicable to
covered activities within the scope of such deemed PHS employment for a
calendar year.
Free Clinics
Section 224(o) of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 233(o)) extends
eligibility for deemed PHS employee status to free clinic health
professionals, including employees, officers, board members,
contractors, and volunteer health professionals, at qualifying free
clinics. The Free Clinics FTCA Program is administered by HRSA. Free
clinics must submit deeming sponsorship applications to HRSA in the
specified form and manner on behalf of named individuals for HRSA's
review and approval. In order to continue to participate in the Free
Clinics FTCA Program and maintain deemed status for individuals, free
clinics must submit to HRSA an annual deeming sponsorship application
on behalf of named individuals. For liability protections to apply,
such applications must be approved by HRSA in a Notice of Deeming
Action applicable to the sponsored individual, which, absent other
intervening facts, generally is applicable to covered activities within
the scope of such deemed PHS employment for a calendar year. Approvals
result in a ``deeming determination'' that includes associated FTCA
coverage for these individuals.
HRSA is proposing to combine the three existing ICRs for these
programs into a single ICR consisting of the three application forms.
The three existing ICRs are: (1) Application for Health Center Program
Recipients for Deemed PHS Employment with Liability Protections Under
the FTCA (OMB No. 0906-0035), (2) Application for Deemed Health Center
Program Award Recipients to Sponsor VHPs for Deemed PHS Employment (OMB
No. 0906-0032), and (3) FTCA Program Deeming Sponsorship Applications
for Free Clinics (OMB No. 0915-0293). HRSA recognizes that the content
of these three FTCA applications differs but is proposing to combine
these three separate ICRs in order to increase efficiencies, decrease
burden on stakeholders, and allow commentors to more easily provide
feedback where applicable to commonalities that may impact all three
ICRs. Pursuant to section 224(g)-(o), and (q) of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C.
233(g)-(o) and (q)), as amended, all three collections are done for the
purpose of collecting information from certain health centers that
receive grant funding under section 330 of the PHS Act and free clinics
to determine eligibility for liability protections, including FTCA
coverage. Applications for these programs must be submitted through
HRSA's web-based application system, the Electronic Handbooks. These
electronic application forms decrease the time and effort required to
complete the older, paper-based OMB approved FTCA application forms. In
order to make the terminology more consistent, the names of the
applications are now as follows: (1) Application for Health Center
Program Recipients for Deemed PHS Employment with Liability Protections
Under the FTCA, (2) Application for Deemed Health Center Program
Recipients to Sponsor VHPs for Deemed PHS Employment with Liability
Protections Under the FTCA, and (3) Application for Free Clinics to
Sponsor Individuals for Deemed PHS Employment with Liability
Protections Under the FTCA. In this single ICR, HRSA is proposing to
update the content of the applications forms, which OMB has previously
approved as three
[[Page 22164]]
individual ICRs. These revisions are described below.
Proposed Revisions
1. Application for Health Center Program Recipients for Deemed PHS
Employment With Liability Protections Under the FTCA
HRSA is proposing several changes to the content of the Application
for Health Center Program Recipients for Deemed PHS Employment with
Liability Protections Under the FTCA, to be used for health center
deeming applications for calendar year (CY) 2024 and thereafter, to
improve question clarity and clarify required documentation. The
application includes: Contact Information, Section 1: Review of Risk
Management Systems; Section 2: Quality Improvement/Quality Assurance
(QI/QA); Section 3: Credentialing and Privileging; Section 4: Claims
Management; and Section 5: Additional Information, Certification, and
Signatures. In addition to minor grammatical changes made for clarity,
the application includes the following proposed changes:
A disclaimer regarding training for health center staff
was added to the beginning of the Review of Risk Management Systems,
QI/QA, Credentialing and Privileging, and Claims Management sections.
Review of Risk Management Systems:
Questions related to required FTCA trainings for
Obstetrics, Infection Control, the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act, and other specific areas of risk were separated
into four questions, and detailed guidance for Obstetrics training was
added for clarity.
To facilitate the verification of compliance with training
requirements, applicants will be required to enter their training
tracking information in a Word or PDF document that will be part of the
information collection tool.
To enhance clarity and ensure accurate uploading of
information, the quarterly assessments have been divided into four
separate questions. This change aims to outline the required elements
and information necessary for each risk assessment.
Credentialing and Privileging:
The credentialing and privileging section was revised to
include clarification regarding policy and procedure requirements for
temporary privileging.
A new attestation question was added to clearly outline
the requirements of Chapter 5 of the Health Center Compliance Manual,
Clinical Staffing regarding Credentialing and Privileging of health
care practitioners.
A new question was added to ensure health centers ensure
credentialing and privileging for all provider types, including
Licensed Independent Practitioners, Other Licensed or Certified
Practitioners, and Other Clinical Staff.
Claims Management:
A new claims management question was added to ensure documents
relating to potential tort claims are in the correct format when
transmitted to the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of
the General Counsel's General Law Division.
2. Application for Deemed Health Center Program Recipients To Sponsor
VHPs for Deemed PHS Employment With Liability Protections Under the
FTCA
HRSA is proposing several changes to the content of the Application
for Deemed Health Center Program Recipients to Sponsor VHPs for Deemed
PHS Employment with Liability Protections Under the FTCA, to be used
for deeming sponsorship applications for CY 2024 and thereafter, to
improve question clarity, clarify required documentation, and support
HRSA's analysis and understanding of program impact. The application
includes the following sections: Acknowledgments of Deemed Status
Requirements, Acknowledgment of Required Performance Conditions, and
Information on the Volunteers Sponsored for Deeming. Specifically, the
application includes the following proposed changes:
Volunteers Sponsored for Deeming: Since the publication of
the 60-day notice, HRSA has decided to no longer add a new question to
the VHP application tool related to performing activities during
declared emergencies. Instead, HRSA is adopting a new streamlined VHP
Emergency Deeming Sponsorship Application, that may be used by certain
health centers (as identified by HRSA) that are affected by a declared
emergency or other emergency, to seek expedited deemed status for
sponsored VHPs for a limited time period to support short-term staffing
needs based on the impact of the identified emergencies. The purpose of
this streamlined deeming sponsorship application is to facilitate rapid
onboarding of VHPs for health centers affected by a declared emergency
or other emergency situation. This application will be an abbreviated
version of the normal VHP application and will require less attachments
and uses primarily attestation statements. Health centers affected by a
declared emergency or other emergency situation requesting FTCA
coverage on behalf of a subrecipient's VHPs must submit a VHP Emergency
Deeming Sponsorship Application on behalf of each individually named
volunteer health practitioner on the subrecipient's behalf. This tool
will be made available in the Electronic Handbooks at HRSA's
discretion.
Credentialing and Privileging: Language has been added to
ensure grantees understand the 2-year requirement for credentialing and
privileging.
3. Application for Free Clinics To Sponsor Individuals for Deemed PHS
Employment With Liability Protections Under the FTCA
HRSA is proposing several changes to the content of the
Applications for Free Clinics to Sponsor Individuals for Deemed PHS
Employment with Liability Protections Under the FTCA, to be used for
deeming sponsorship applications for CY 2024 and thereafter, to improve
question clarity and clarify required documentation. Specifically, the
application includes the following proposed changes:
In Section III, ``Sponsoring Free Clinic Eligibility,'' a
note was added to clarify the non-profit status documentation
requirements for free clinics; and
In Section VII, ``Patient Visit Data,'' clarifying
language was added to ensure that free clinics provide precise and
accurate data.
A 60-day notice published in the Federal Register on December 13,
2023, 88 FR 86346, received no public comments.
Need and Proposed Use of the Information: Deeming applications must
address certain specified criteria required by law to be approved, and
FTCA application forms are critical to HRSA's deeming determination
process. The application submissions provide HRSA with the information
essential to evaluate the application and make a deeming determination.
Moreover, the application information is also used to determine whether
a site visit is appropriate to assess issues relating to quality of
care and to determine technical assistance needs.
Likely Respondents: Respondents include Health Center Program
funding recipients seeking deemed PHS employee status for purposes of
eligibility for liability protections, including FTCA coverage; Health
Center Program funding recipients that have been deemed as PHS
employees and that seek to sponsor VHPs for deemed PHS employee status
for purposes of eligibility for liability protections,
[[Page 22165]]
including FTCA coverage; and free clinics that seek to sponsor
individuals for deemed PHS employee status for purposes of eligibility
for liability protections, including FTCA coverage.
Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the
information requested. This includes the time needed to review
instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying
information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and
providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to
a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and
review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise
disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for
this ICR are summarized in the table below.
Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Average burden
Form name Number of responses per Total per response Total burden
respondents respondent responses (in hours) hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application for Health Center 1,160 1 1,160 2.5 2,900
Program Recipients for Deemed
PHS Employment with Liability
Protections Under the FTCA.....
Application for Deemed Health 1,156 3 3,468 2.0 6,936
Center Program Recipients to
Sponsor Volunteer Health
Professionals for Deemed PHS
Employment with Liability
Protections Under the FTCA.....
Volunteer Health Professionals 60 1 60 1.0 60
Emergency Deeming Sponsorship
Application....................
Application for Free Clinics to 374 3 1,122 2.0 2,244
Sponsor Individuals for Deemed
PHS Employment with Liability
Protections Under the FTCA.....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total....................... 2,750 .............. 5,810 .............. 12,140
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2024-06687 Filed 3-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P
